Floating Dreams by Ik-Joong Kang

It’s surprisingly easy to walk by a piece of public art without noticing it; with eyes likely glued to our phones, it takes something monumental—like Damien Hirst’s Charity, the enormous replica of the collection boxes used by The Spastics Society (now Scope) which sat outside the Gherkin as part of Sculpture in the City in 2015—to stop us. Totally Thames, the month-long festival celebrating the 42-mile stretch of London river from Hampton Court Palace to Dartford Crossing, has commissioned one such installation. Floating Dreams, by the Korean artist Ik-Joong Kang, whose work has appeared in New York’s Metropolitan Museum and the Whitney, sees a three-storey illuminated lantern structure installed on the Thames by the Millennium Bridge. The work features 500 drawings by people who fled North Korea for the South during the Korean War; now in their 80s and 90s, the drawings speak to a longing for home and hope of reunification. Go at night to see the sculpture lit up in its full glory. And if you want more, Robilant + Voena on Dover Street are hosting an exhibition of the artist’s work from 6-23 September.